After a unexpected stay at the International Space Station, which stretched to nine and a half months, NASA astronaut Suni Williams is back to having fun on Earth.
“I actually went out and ran three miles yesterday,” Williams said Monday at a press conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. “So I'll pat myself on the back a little.”
Williams and her fellow astronaut Butch Willmore expressed their gratitude repeatedly. In Williams' comments, she thanked the two astronauts who shared the Dragon Capsules of the SpaceX Crew. She thanked NASA. She thanked SpaceX. She thanked Boeing. She thanked the medical team for helping them get used to gravity again.
These thanks, like many federal workers, may have been highly praised by people in the space agency who are uncertain about their mission, direction, and even ongoing employment since President Trump took office.
Williams and Wilmore traveled to Orbit on a test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft last June, which was intended as a short stay at the International Space Station. However, due to problems with the Starliner's propulsion system, NASA officials have decided that Starliner should return to Earth, and Williams and Wilmore will remain on track until February.
Back on Earth, they returned to NASA, which is in transition, but it is unclear what course it will take.
Elon Musk and his government's efficiency aim to destroy the federal bureaucrats. At the same time, SpaceX CEO Musk dreams of sending settlers to Mars, and burning speculation that NASA's current centerpiece, Artemis program, focuses on sending astronauts back to the moon.
In January, Williams and Wilmore transformed into political football, as Trump and Musk said they abandoned them in space in order to deny good propaganda to Musk, a supporter of Trump during the presidential election, without providing any details or evidence.
The two astronauts have long maintained in public opinion that they have not been stuck and not abandoned for political reasons.
At a press conference at the Johnson Space Center, Williams, Wilmore and Nick Haag were commanders of the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission who brought them home, all played political fracas, and instead emphasized the collaboration and unity of purpose needed for the astronaut mission.
“Then you'll connect it with the nation that comes along, and it cares about human spaceflight programs and prays for us and what's going on,” Wilmore said.
The Hague said much of what happened on Earth remains below:
“When we're operating in space, you don't feel politics,” he said. “You don't feel that. It's strictly focused on missions.”
He said Williams had been commander of the space station for nearly six months.
The Hague said the magic of human spaceflight is that we can focus on things that are positive enough to bring people together.”
Wilmore, who served as commander of the Starliner Mission, did not take Boeing's responsibility for the Starliner capsule issue, causing his stay. “I don't like that term,” he said.
Boeing and NASA share responsibility for what didn't function properly, he said.
“I start my eyes and point my fingers, and I blam them,” Wilmore said. “I could have asked a few questions, and the answers to those questions may have changed the tide.”
NASA officials say the next Starliner flight could occur later this year or next year. When asked if they were willing to ride another such flight, both Williams and Wilmore said yes without hesitation.
“Because we're going to fix all the issues we encountered,” Wilmore said. “We're going to fix them. We're going to make it work. Boeing is completely committed. NASA is completely committed to what they're doing.
“I agree,” Williams said. “Spaceships are really capable.”
The International Space Station is currently scheduled to operate until 2030, when a special SpaceX-designed spacecraft will push the station from orbit into the Pacific Ocean. More recently, Musk suggests that space stations should increase their usefulness and throw away earlier in a few years. But the astronauts spoke incredible ways about the research they did there.
The Hague said the complexity of the experiment has increased dramatically compared to what he achieved during his previous stay on the trajectory six years ago.
“It gives you this feeling that we are in the golden age of space stations right now in terms of return on investment,” The Hague said.
